Category: Hip Hop Community News

Following up his release of single “Black Tux”, Memphis, TN rapper/activist/lecturer Marco Pavé is hard at work promoting his recent TEDx talk. The lecture took place in his hometown of Memphis, where Marc explained exactly how important music is to him and why he would not be here without it. It’s always inspiring when artists within the culture realise just how important it is to add to it positively. Knowledge is one of the five elements and Marco Pavé is an artist who deeply understands the importance of sharing knowledge. Check out his TEDx appearance below.

“The history of Memphis music is long and very detailed, but along the way Memphis fell off the map when it comes to Music. I want to build a great art and music industry back in Memphis. I had been saying that in my own world for a while, I wanted to reach a larger platform with my message of respecting the arts as a viable career choice. Tedx Memphis provided that, I was able to tell my story to a sold-out crowd of 1,000+ people. “ – Marco Pavé

With two studio albums under his belt (Radioactive and Love Story) and one on the way, country boy Yelawolf shares the name of his third studio album in excitement. Nine hours ago, the Alabama-native rapper took to his Facebook fan pageTrial By Fire to spread the news. Have a look at the original text from his post below:

It’s been a crazy week. So much energy around me at all times. I’ve found peace and quite for most of my life at grave yards .. My Maw Maw used to take me .. We would just walk around and read stones … I write a lot of records here .. Today I wrote a record for @leebrice and I here .. Called “Violin” … We’re supposed to be in the studio this evening .. Time to push all aside and get these ideas recorded .. Songs are like a passing speck of dust in the wind … If you don’t grab it and contain it .. It’ll be gone forever. With all my growth .. I can say returning to my roots has been the greatest blessing. Sharing that with what hip hop brought to my life … I’m forever grateful .. ” Trial By Fire ” will be the title for my next album … Sharing this with you all today … Right now …. Cause who knows really … But I’m mentally ready to begin the next album … And the journey starts today. @shadyrecords INTERSCOPE ‪#‎slumerican‬ @fefedobsonofficial @kleversworld @bonesowens @spidysmith @jdotjones @rosenberg

These days, Yelawolf is promoting “Till It’s Gone”, his new record that’s featured in this trailer. The trailer is for a film called “Black Mass”, which stars Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger. Watch the trailer:

Drake is a known advocate for good Canadian eats. Which makes sense that the 6 God will open up a restaurant in his hometown, Toronto.

Frings is the name of the restaurant (for unknown reasons). It’s a co-venture with Susur Lee, his sons, and OVO Gelo. This collaboration doesn’t come as much of a surprise because Drake chose to spend his last birthday at Bent (one of Lee’s restaurant) alongside Lee and his mother. However, the opening date of the restaurant was still a surprise because it didn’t get too much promotion besides a few speculated Vine videos.

But he did show off Fring’s opening on Instagram, taking pictures with his mom and a group picture with the other restaurant owners:

Drake reportedly arrived at 8PM sharp, downing shots and he served his attendees, Jaden Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Serena Williams, fries and sliders. Will this be apart of the official menu Lee was asked and he said they “haven’t really figured it out yet. We’re still testing and tasting, you know. Good things take time”.

But if you’re in Frings feeling like a Sweeterman or a Wasteman, you’ve got choices. Check it out. Also take a look at the exterior:

The Attorney General is returning $400,000 to 14 Long Island homeowners who were victims of a mortgage rescue scam. Empire Property Solutions posted ads in local papers offering services to help families refinance their mortgages by turning over the titles to their homes through a “sale-leaseback” agreement, but failed to make good on their promises to use the payments to pay down their mortgages. In the end, the homeowners faced foreclosure and eviction. In response to an uptick in reported mortgage rescue scams, the Attorney General launched AGScamHelp.com, a web-based app that helps families report scams and connect with qualified housing counseling and legal services across the state. In less than a year, more than 26,000 New Yorkers have visited the website.

Attorney General Schneiderman joined U.S. Northern District Attorney Richard Hartunian and State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in announcing the conviction of former Assemblyman William Scarborough on fraud and theft convictions. Scarborough was sentenced to 13 months in prison on charges he submitted more than $54,000 in fraudulent travel vouchers during his time as a member of the New York State Assembly. Scarborough falsely claimed he had been at the state capitol for legislative business when, in fact, he was not in Albany, and he inflated the amount of time he reported he spent in Albany in order to receive a larger per diem. Scarborough’s sentence crystallizes the need for comprehensive reform to clean up corruption in our state, an effort that the Attorney General has been leading.

Attorney General Schneiderman joined Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Jerry Boone in announcing the guilty plea of an Ithaca businessman for failing to pay sales and personal income tax to the state. Between 2005 and 2012, Jonathan Pargh underreported the taxable sales for his two companies and his business income by more than $1.6 million, defrauding the state of more than $280,000. This conviction makes it clear that when unscrupulous business owners break the law, they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

The Attorney General announced an agreement with Bath & Body works to end on-call scheduling in all U.S. stores. On-call scheduling can cause serious disruptions for workers by disrupting their plan for childcare, transportation, and other basic needs. Bath & Body Works joins Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap, and Victoria’s Secret in ending this troubling employment practice in response to the Attorney General’s inquiry, which has yielded more stable, reliable work schedules for tens of thousands of employees.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reached a joint settlement with Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison) to resolve allegations of ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination against women in field positions. These women, who work alongside men in power stations, manholes, and other physically strenuous field positions, alleged they were given sub-par training, assigned menial tasks and denied adequate restrooms, showers and changing facilities. As part of the agreement, Con Edison will reserve up to $3.8 million to compensate as many as 300 women who worked in the field from 2006 to 2014 and suffered sexual harassment and discrimination. This case should send a clear message to employers across New York: All women, especially those working in male-dominated workplaces, deserve respect and equal treatment.

As part of his continued efforts to reform the herbal supplements industry, the Attorney General announced that his office sent 13 cease-and-desist letters to the manufacturers of the herbal supplement devil’s claw, which is marketed as a treatment for arthritis and other forms of joint pain. The letters were sent after the New York Botanical Garden tested more than a dozen devil’s claw supplements labeled for U.S. sale and found that all supplements identified via advanced DNA barcode testing contained a different plant than advertised. The study’s results raise more troubling questions about the manufacturing and marketing of supplements. A 14th manufacturer, Nature’s Way, has agreed to reform the manufacturing and marketing of its supplements, in addition to refunding New York consumers who have purchased its devil’s claw products since January 1, 2012.

A former Hudson nursing home employee has been arrested on charges she stole more than $6,000 for a resident trust account at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Columbia County. Claire Wieland, who was the responsible for submitting request to have checks drawn for residents who requested funds, allegedly possessed 24 fraudulent checks. Wieland allegedly then cashed the checks and kept the money for herself. The Attorney General will not tolerate those who seek to exploit nursing home residents for personal financial gain.

A Yonkers man has been sentenced for stealing more than $200,000 dollars from Medicaid. Kurien Palliankal, owner of Carewell Ambullete, billed Medicaid for more expensive transportation than was medically necessary over a period of four years. As a result of his actions, he was sentenced to six months in prison and five years of probation. Carewell Ambulette, formerly based in New Rochelle, was also sentenced to pay a fine of $10,000. The Attorney General will continue to protect New Yorkers’ access to honest and reliable medical services by rooting out Medicaid fraud.

A Schenectady-area nurse has pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining more than 2,000 narcotics using forged prescriptions. For approximately one year, Linda Masse used 18 forged prescriptions at Walmart and CVS from her employer’s practice, causing Medicaid to foot the bill. The Attorney General will continue to hold medical professionals accountable for crimes committed by the abuse of their privilege.

The second annual Source 360 weekend festival is in full swing with amazing seminars, unforgettable performances, and memorable appearances. Join us tonight at the Mark Morris Dance Center with acclaimed choreographer Tim Edwards for a high energy hip hop dance class. Learn the elements of breakdancing, body movements, and much more. After class, you will have the opportunity to show off your dance moves during our freestyle dance cypher!

COME OUT AND WIN NIKE SNEAKERS AND TICKETS TO POWER 105.1’s POWERHO– USE CONCERT

For more information on Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff”, the Hip-Hop 4 Better Health program and Senator Leroy Comrie’s Walk For Wellness program and his upcoming events hit us up at RandyKFisher@gmail.com.

Who murdered 2Pac? After nearly two decades to he day the question still remains…

Rapper Tupac Shakur was then taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada hospital after being shot several times in a drive-by on a Las Vegas strip and was under a medically induced coma for six days before dying from internal bleeding on September 13, 1996.

After several failed attempts by doctors to revive 2Pac, his mother Afeni Shakur requested for his life support machine to be turned off. What were the events that transpired the days before the September 7th shooting that caused his early demise and why has the mystery of his death never been solved? These are the questions that remain 19 years later. Chris Carroll, a retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant, told Vegas Seven Magazine in an interview last year that we may never know;

“Shakur’s murder is still considered an unsolved homicide and an unsolved homicide case is technically never closed. But nothing more is ever going to happen with it.”

After all the documentaries that have been put out pertaining to Pac’s death, most fans attempt to put the clues together and create their own hypothesis yet without hard evidence it’s still just an educated guess as to what really happened the night of September 7, 1996.

The only real evidence police have are the witness accounts from Outlaw members E.D.I Mean, who claimed to have seen all four men in the vehicle and Yaki Kadafi, who was involved in a scuffle with officers two days following the shooting after they pulled over a driver he was with and he protested. Officers did not try to locate Kadafi, who was later gunned down in the PJs in Irving, NJ two months after the shooting.

Compton investigators assembled mug shots of several gang members, which included Orlando Anderson, the Crip that Tupac attacked in the MGM Grand lobby hours before the shooting. Anderson is the suspect said to have fired the fatal shots that killed Pac. Las Vegas police later discounted Anderson as a suspect and interviewed him only once. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting.

Las Vegas homicide Sergeant Kevin Manning said detectives called his lawyer to set up a meeting with a witness, so that the pictures could be reviewed but According to Manning the calls were not returned. E.D.I. Mean and Frank Alexander, Pac’s body guard, told The Los Angeles Times in early 1997 that they had never been asked by the Las Vegas police to view photos of possible suspects in the case despite having seen the shooting and the faces of the men in the car from which shots were fired at Pac and Suge Knight. Alexander reported seeing the face of the suspect that shot Shakur but he was found dead with a bullet wound to the head in his home in Murrieta, CA on April 28, 2013. It’s being reported that it was suicide and there haven’t been any further reports following Big Frank’s death. Till this day, Las Vegas police dispute the witness accounts of what they reported to the officers the night of the shooting.

Family Day Was A Huge Success At Seth Low Houses As They Prepare To Address The Dropout Crisis, Unemployment, Healthcare, Drugs, Crime, Gun And Gang Violence By Working With The Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council And Their 7 E’s 4 Power Tour, Power 105.1, vitaminwater, Council Member Mealy, The AIDS HealthCare Foundation And Many Others

Reginald Bowman, Charles Fisher, Randy Fisher holding vitaminwater.

“Vote 4 New Hope With The Power In Public Housing”

At the 2015 Seth Low Family Day Event, we caught up with Reginald Bowman, President of the NYCHA City-Wide Council of President and one of the most credible people we have known that is actually on the ground, in the developments using his contacts and skills to make life better for NYCHA residents. We meet a lot of people in NYCHA, but for over 7 years now, this man has made many sacrifices for his NYCHA Family and their ongoing struggle to obtain the support, services, security and economic opportunities needed for residents to live a productive life.

Things are slowly improving in Public Housing thanks to committed leaders like Mr. Bowman, his team, and a host of elected officials who have been leading the charge for decades. We are looking forward to working with Reggie and bringing him the resources to make NYCHA a better place to live for all residents. Yes there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but things are finally moving in the right direction and as a team we will get the job done. We have several new initiatives with Power 105.1, “The Shark” Daymond John, vitaminwater, RavePCS, Hip-Hop Wireless, Microsoft, the Source Magazine and celebrities from the entertainment industry that we are about to introduce to NYCHA through Mr. Bowman that will provide more opportunities for the residents, with a focus on the safety and economic empowerment of the youth and young adults in NYCHA. Let’s get into the interview.

How many years has Seth Low been doing Family Days?

Seth Low houses has been doing Family Days since the 1960’s.

What does Family Day mean to you and the community?

Family day is both a celebration and a reunion. We celebrate the meaning of Family and its bonds that go beyond just blood ties, and a reunion of the people who have lived in the Seth Low Public Housing Community and the Public Housing Community of Brownsville for decades.

What are you doing as President of the NYCHA Council of Presidents to address Crime, Poverty, Unemployment, and Gun & Gang Violence?

It is my belief that the problems of Crime, Gun and Gang Violence, are a direct result of Poverty and Unemployment. We have made efforts to launch projects such as the Brooklyn East Anti-Violence Initiative and create partnerships with the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council to provide Training and Employment programs, which provide real job opportunities for residents. These initiatives work hand in hand with all stakeholders to promote resident owned business development, and concrete opportunities for alternatives to criminal activities, that are a direct result of unemployment.

How are relations with NYPD and what can be done to improve them?

As the co-creator of the Safety and Security Task force, a partnership with the NYCHA residents, NYPD and City Agencies, we proactively have worked to address and improve the relationships between Law enforcement and Public Housing residents. The efforts resulted in the changing of the NYPD Housing Patrol Guide, and established an ongoing effort to meet regularly to improve communications and active initiatives between the police and the community. The efforts have a long way to go.

Let’s talk about the Political Power in NYCHA and the role residents can play in the upcoming Presidential Elections?

I launched the “Vote 4 New Hope” and “Power in Public Housing” initiatives with The Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council in 2008, to organize the more than 200,000 registered voters in Public Housing in NYC to be the deciding vote in Local, State and Federal Elections. According to a Daily News article the Public Housing vote had a very high turn out in New York and did play a role in electing President Obama to the White House. We have proven to be an effective voice as we quietly elected key politicians to office, which is evidenced by the recent investments of millions of dollars in Public Housing by State and City Governments. I hope that we can again use the “VOTE FOR NEW HOPE” power and influence as a strategy in the 2016 Presidential elections and organize with the Music Industry to be the deciding vote in the 2016 elections. We have the votes to do it. We just need to get mobilized and take over the political arena as the youth and entertainment industry has done in the past.

Why are there so many youth and young adults killing each other in Brooklyn and throughout the city? What can we do about it?

I have no real answer to this. It is my belief that this country’s culture of violence, war and conflict can be researched and blamed for some of this, and the continued mass killings and police killings, everywhere, are all related. I believe that until we realize this is a national problem, with a need for real comprehensive solutions, the violence will continue to destroy our youth and communities.

This event was a total success and achieved the objective of bringing people together to celebrate and honor life and be “Reunited With Family and Friends.”

Any special shout outs for your Family Day supporters?

Special Shout Out to Power 105.1 and vitaminwater, The Seth Low Houses Board Members, the NYCHA Staff, Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, the Source Magazine, and the Seth Low Houses Family.

Charles Fisher and Randy Fisher stand by the cases of vitaminwater.Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” works out with 2 cases of vitaminwater; why don’t you try it?

As you well know we are pushing to get more sponsors involved with NYCHA, this year we have Power 105.1 and vitaminwater, give me your thoughts?

The NYCHA communities generate and spend millions in purchases and it is about time that those corporations give something back to the community and we would like to thank Power 105.1 for being in the forefront of these activities and we look forward to working with the Hip-Hop Summit Youth Council, the station, and their sponsors in the future.

Give me your thoughts about your ongoing plan to make NYCHA a better place for all residents citywide?

I believe and vision using the economic and political power of NYCHA Communities residents to restore the infrastructure of the facilities and be a force for restoring the ladder of economic and social opportunities that NYCHA is intended to be for years to come.

Charles Fisher and Sharieff “The Fitness Sheriff” hold up the banner and vitaminwater with a resident of Seth Low Houses wearing a Worthy Lifestyle shirt and hat.

ABOUT THE MOYNIHAN REPORT AND BLACK FAMILY

The Negro Family: The Case For National Action(the 1965 Moynihan Report) was written by Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a sociologist and later U.S. Senator. It focused on the deep roots of black poverty in America and concluded controversially that the relative absence of nuclear families (those having both a father and mother present) would greatly hinder further progress toward economic and political equality.

Even before the Annual West Indian Day Parade began, the expected violence struck once again this year, claiming one life and seriously injuring four others.

The “j’ouvert” celebration, which actually starts the night before the parade, erupted in violence as a 24 year old man was stabbed to death near the parade’s start at Grand Army Plaza at approximately 2 AM.

One of the injured was 43 year old Carey Gabay, Governor Cuomo’s first deputy counsel for Empire State Development, who was shot in the head while ducking behind a car attempting to dodge bullets. It has been reported that Gabay, his pregnant wife and brother were caught in the crossfire of rival gangs. He is currently in critical condition in Kings County Hospital.

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito tweeted the attorney, wishing him a speedy recovery and the urgency for ending gun violence.